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To: DJBEINO who wrote (52085)	11/7/2000 11:45:28 AM
From: Dan Spillane	Respond to of 53903

Add 60 thousand second-generation robots a month to the demand picture. Sony confident about personal robots' future By Reuters Special to CNET News.com November 7, 2000, 4:00 a.m. PT TOKYO--The creator of Sony robot-pet Aibo said Tuesday his toy will be the companion of the future but that its days as a guide dog for the blind are still far off. "The 1980s was the decade of the PC, the 90s of the Internet, but I believe the decade just starting will be the decade of the robot," Toshitada Doi, president of Sony Digital Creatures Laboratory, told a news conference. • Get the "Big Picture" • Related News • Message Boards Quote Snapshot SNE 87.50 +1.19 · Real-Time Quotes Enter symbol: · Symbol Lookup Quotes delayed 20+ minutes The upgraded and cheaper version of the Aibo hits store shelves Nov. 16. "Reaction so far is very, very, very good," Doi said. The souped-up successor to the original Aibo dog has an array of new features. It is equipped with a camera in its nose to snap those special moments. It can also better express anger or joy and has a much cheaper price tag--a sign that Sony is getting serious about the pet robot business. Doi said he is confident of the popularity of Aibo, which means "companion" in Japanese. "Ten years from now, I believe most households will keep two or three personal robots and their performance will increase 100 times. My expectation is that these robots will be able to talk naturally with humans, say about the latest gossip." Doi stopped short of seeing a future for Aibo as a prototype for utility robots, saying the present technology is too dangerous to be used in designing robots that could guide the blind or provide care to the elderly. Worries also remain over how the robot will fare in markets outside robot-crazy Japan, which has seen the bulk of sales for the first-generation Aibo. "In Japan, there is little hesitation when playing with robots, something which I'm not sure of in the U.S. and Europe," he said. "But whenever we have exhibits there, we always see a strong response, so I do believe the same thing will happen there--though I think it will take some time," Doi said. Most of the 45,000 first-generation Aibos sold experimentally over the Internet last year were picked up by Japanese buyers--and fast. The first batch of the 11-inch, dog-like robot that can go for walks, chase after a ball and wag its tail sold out within 20 minutes. Sony said last month it was ready to handle orders of up to 60,000 robots a month for its second-generation Aibo robot-pet, which will carry a price tag of $1,397 (150,000 yen). The debut version cost $2325.37.